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The Black Flame (character)
The Black Flame is a name or pseudonym adopted by two different persons in the Hellboy Universe. Their supernatural powers appearantly stem from the Katha-Hem. They appear roughly 70-80 years apart from one another in separate storylines. The first Black Flame The original Black Flame is the supernatural "mystic" hired for mob boss Arnie Wald by henchman Silog. He is "married" to a siamese mystic and initially is seen on the deck of the ship they are traveling on, fully clothed with his trademark Asbestos hat and clothes. During subsequent appearances the hat and such are still in place leaving the reader curious. It isn't until Wald finally agrees to Silog's suggestion to hire the mystics that the truth is revealed. As his wife remarks upon the impoliteness of wearing a hat indoors the Black Flame removes the hat, small streamers of blackness edging along his shoulders. A shocked mobster and his crony see for the first time the face of this enigmatic man: A skull wreathed in black flames. The first confrontation with Lobster Johnson takes place while he's burning down some tenements for Wald. Casualties are mounting as the Lobster and his men arrive on the scene, but as they empty their weapons on the Black Flame he barely registers the wounds, instead managing to burn and abduct Massimo, a taxidriver working for the Lobster. His wife conducts a gross ritual to absorb Massimo's knowledge of the Lobster after which Wald decides to launch a raid against the Lobster and his team. The confrontation does not go too badly for the Lobster until the Black Flame arrives. In a spectacular showdown the Lobster has to run for his life and formulate a plan to defeat this nigh unstoppable menace. Eventually the team maneuvers the Black Flame in front of a cannon under covers and blast him with a high-caliber shell. This seems to stop the Black Flame, but his wife then launches into song, a song which revives him. The confrontation ends when a car that Silog is forced to drive by Cindy Tynan hits the mystic's wife and kills her thereby. The Black Flame immediately rushes to her side, cries his nickname for her and essentially loses the will or power to live on.Guttering out like a candle in the wind. Powers, abilities and such The Black Flame is an undead creature, a skeleton wrapped in black flames. These flames are controlled by him and can be summoned into quite a large area around him or onto a specific target. They cannot be extinguished by water and can turn men into burnt skeletons within seconds. The Black Flame can also teleport through them and take others with him, though this may have more to do with his undead nature. The Black Flame is German and exclusively speaks that language during his few vocal moments, but can understand English evidently. Aftermath Lobster Johnson did not in fact claim the remains of the original Black Flame. Presumably they were kept by various people before Landis Pope got his greasy mitts on them. The second Black Flame During his time as CEO at Zinco Landis Pope acquired the bodily remains of the original Black Flame along with several mystic texts. Under hidden guidance of the frog monsters he constructed an armor that upon completion allowed him to become the new Black Flame and leader of the frogs. This turned out to be a ruse though and he was dragged underground after he had discovered the destiny of the Black Flame and the manifestation of Katha-hem was burnt by Liz Sherman. He was later discovered underground, having allied with the King of Fear. He proclaimed Abe Sapien to be an evolved form of the frog monsters and went quite far to convince Abe of this, but to no avail. This incident marked the beginning of the enmity between Devon and Abe. He was subsequently killed and his corpse burned to a crispy heap of miscellaneous ashes by Liz. Powers, abilities and such Pope had most of the original Black Flame's powers, though his flames where more blue than black. He lacked the ability to teleport appearantly though. In addition to human languages Pope was fluent in many mystic languages, including the languages used by the frogs. Though intially able to remove his armor he gradually bonded with it, thus ending his life as a human. The armor provides substantial protection from harm as well as preventing accidental flame release. Future possibilities: The B.P.R.D. is on the lookout for any new manifestations of the Black Flame, Zinco still has pope's texts and the original's remains so a third incarnation is certainly not unthinkable. Conversely, an appearance in Sir Edward Grey's time is not unthinkable either.